Determination of 27 chemical constituents in Chinese southwest tobacco by FT-NIR spectroscopy

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was applied to quantitative analyses of 27 chemical components in Chinese southwest tobacco including routine chemical components, aromatic constituents, inorganic nutrients and heavy metals. The quantitative calibration models of these constituents were established by PLS regression. The result showed that the predicted values of seven routine chemical components and the measured values have remarkable correlation. The RSEP of measured and predicted values of aroma constituents was under 10%. The SEP of volatile alkaloids was 0.0116, which can be applied to rapid determination. The RPD of Mo, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn were all over 3.00. The determination coefficients (R2) of the models of other inorganic nutrients were above 70%. Moreover, the NIR spectroscopy was firstly utilized to determine the content of heavy metals in tobacco in this research, the results of which suggested that the models can be used for rapid prediction of the heavy metals.

► Rapid determination of 27 chemical constituents in tobacco by NIR.
► Monitor quality of tobacco during the cigarette production.
► Feasible online prediction of chemical constituents of tobacco.
► PLS modeling on the 500 samples of tobacco from different cultivation locations in Southwest China.
► First apply to determination of heavy metals in tobacco.